Video monitoring systems are used to monitor video signals from one or more discrete locations or view angles. These systems are often used for security, surveillance, and personnel performance monitoring. Video monitoring systems generally include video capture devices, a control device, and a display. The video capture devices are a group of cameras configured to record video data at particular discrete locations. The control device is a computer or electronic module that receives the video data from each of the video capture devices and routes the signal to the display. The display converts the video data into a visually identifiable format. These components may be embedded into a personal computer or digital computer network, or it may incorporate portions of a computer network for purposes of data transmission and/or display.
Although video monitoring systems are often positioned to record proprietary or private data, they often routinely record non-private data. For example, a video capture device positioned to record video of a residential entrance may record video of both sensitive and non-sensitive data. The sensitive data may include images of the occupants entering or vacating the premises through the residential entrance. Most individuals would prefer to avoid making public certain images or video data of themselves for a variety of reasons. Whereas, the same video capture device may also record a criminal attempting to break into the residence, steal a package left at the entrance, and/or vandalize the entrance. This criminal video data is not sensitive or private and is often shared with law enforcement agencies for purposes of identifying or apprehending the offending individual(s). Unfortunately, the recorded video data may be insufficient to identify the responsible criminals. For example, the offending individual(s) may have intentionally avoided or disabled the video capture device. Likewise, the video capture device may have malfunctioned or not provided sufficient detail for identification. However, the video monitoring system has still recorded information that may be used in conjunction with other information to identify the individual(s).
One type of conventional data aggregation and correlation includes directly contacting other individuals who may possess information which may be incorporated with the data obtained by the video monitoring system. For example, after a residential crime is committed, law enforcement personnel and/or neighborhood watch organizations often contact individuals within a geographic region. A neighbor may have additional information about the crime which could be used in conjunction with the video data to identify the individual(s). Likewise, law enforcement may attempt to correlate data about the crime with other crimes across a larger geographic region. Unfortunately, these techniques of contacting individuals and correlating data are primarily manual processes which require a significant amount of resources to execute effectively.
Therefore, there is a need in the video data monitoring industry for systems and methods of efficient video data aggregation and correlation.